Author
Topic: MMORPGs are dead

I feel like the MMORPG games are mostly dead. The role-playing moved to single-player and multiplayer - to mobas (I know lots of ex-WOW guys moving to mobas). Thus there is no place for the old man.

It can also be explained, as I feel it, by the fact that there is just not mcuh else to say in the genre. All of the new titles are taking either WOW or Lineage and trying to add something to the formula which doesn't get more excicing because of it.

Have you played any MMORPGS before? Have you stopped because of the reasons above or some other ones?

Logged

Member of the team working on Ash of Gods - a story driven tactical RPG with card game elements. Feel free to ask me anything.

I have maybe 20 years of MMORPGs in me and I just can't feel excited about anything now.I wanted to like ToS but it's just a grind game with little else (which is weird because RO wasn't that much more and I loved that game for years).I don't know if it's just because I've played too many or just that they stopped bringing in change and end up being the same altogether.

I feel like the next big thing in MMORPG will need to shake things up a lot.

MMOs, particularly of the free to play variety, are kind of my niche... They're the games I like to pick apart and study and find fascination with. If I were to actually write about games or do vlogging or whatever, I'd like to think that they would be my "expertise" for lack of a better word.

And I can tell you with certainty that MMORPGs (or MMOs in general, as the line is starting to blur) are most certainly not dying. FPS games like The Division and Destiny are redefining the genre, more games than ever are being released as "multiplayer only" and even indie devs are starting to acquire the tools to implement their own MMO games without spending an arm and a leg. In fact, I'd say it would specifically be those WoW and Lineage clones that earn your ire that are on the decline as innovation finally finds its way into the genre. Though even then you have plenty of examples of those, some even pretty good.

Though while we're on the subject. What the hell happened to Lineage II? I tried playing that game a few months ago and the game has gone to absolute shit. The controls are suddenly garbage, the game takes forever to get anywhere interesting,and just every single aspect has been redesigned to its detriment.

What the hell happened to Lineage II...the game takes forever to get anywhere

Sounds accurate for Lineage II and every other MMO that came out of that era!

Personally, I still like MMOs, but none of them really draw me in anymore. That's even if I ignore the dozens of second-rate WoW clones which have little to no thought put into their setting.

For me, a big problem nowadays is that a lot of MMOs have shifted too far into focusing on the gameplay. I know that sounds silly since...well, they're video games and all, but I haven't had an MMO really draw me in with its setting for a long time. The rigid WoW-style quest hub structure over something more free roaming certainly doesn't help things. Maybe I'm just getting older, though?

Have you tried Guild Wars 2? Really fleshed out world with some interesting lore and the dynamic questing means every 10 or so levels the world you have access to grows exponentially, and aside from story quests that you do every few levels, the game lets you mess around however you see fit. Big emphasis on exploration. I'd still be playing myself if combat wasn't so skill-based.

I did play GW2 for a couple hours during one of their free trials, but it didn't really grab me. Maybe I just wasn't looking in the right places but the Dynamic Event things as I experienced them basically boiled down to being isolated areas with 2 settings, a lot of which weren't even really important hubs or anything so there's no incentive to keeping them a certain way. It actually made the world feel less organic for me. Maybe I'll give a shot again sometime.

I don't think they're dead at all, but there's been a significant shift in how consumers play them as well as the different pricing models and platforms. I'm my experience, players have more options to play, but less time. Those who have the time to play tend to develop cyclical habits, I.E. binging post-patch then retiring to less involved activities like mobas etc. While I tend to stick to one MMO at a time, I spend alot of time with mobile MMOs as well. I'm sure many fans of the genre have similar habits.

I've found that over the last decade or so of MMOs, players have suffered from WoW-killer exhaustion. The expectation of the next big thing, only to be constantly disappointed. Generally, this tends to manifest as a belief that the genre as a whole is dead. So I get where you're coming from. I think that even the most blantant knockoff has some redeeming creative asset, it's just a matter of finding what you enjoy playing. I think the root of the problem is that gamers are exhausted with a generic style of play. Eventually they seek out new experiences but then, in an act of self sabotage: obsess about why the new game isn't as similar to the old game. So, instead of embracing actual change they might enjoy, they ultimately return to the games they're comfortable with (even though they remain bored), but actual engagement and enthusiasm remains low.

It doesn't help that with more conveniences in the genre (raid finders, instant travel, etc.) has diluted communities formed out of necessity into much looser associations. The lack of this social imperative has also weakened one of the stronger bonds people have to these games.

My nephew just told me this morning that he and his brother are getting into The Old Republic. I don't know how long they'll stick with it, but if teenagers are still at least playing them some, MMOs must not be completely dead.

I'm not qualified to talk about them overall, though, because they've never been my genre. I'm pretty uneducated on the subject.

Well, it's a genre that only a few can be on top at any given time, the amount of time those games expect you to put in prevents people from playing multiple mmos at the same time. It's actually one of the reasons I think MOBAs are so popular right now. Those games can be broken down into 20-30 minute chunks and fun can be had while playing an hour a day on an mmo will not net you that much progress. Wow has certainly had a resurgence with this new expansion and FF 14 is still going strong it seems. I don't think the genre's dead, but it is niche now I feel and the age where everyone is trying to be the next Wow to get on that sweet monthly subscription money is over. MOBAs and digital TCGs seem to be the trend now. Blizzard seems to be really good at predicting or harnessing that gaming zeitgeist.

The FTP model is cancer. Hardcore pay 2 advance, and the people who defend it kill new MMOs dead, or put them on life support within months. Most publishers are not dumb/brazen enough to put an infinity+1 sword, or armor into the cash shop of that new shinny AAA MMO, because they know the Western player base will cry fowl. Publishers know what they can get away with, and slowly push the line as far as it can possibly go with the P2A. The 1st month or two is the honey moon and everything seems grand, then they steadily put in more and more "pay to advance" At its worst the result = being almost just as bad as if they had put the infinity+1 gear in the cash shop. This is extremely prevalent in westernized Korean and Chinese MMOs where gear is end all be all at endgame.. Unregulated trade via currency exchange, and or putting cash shop items in the auction house allows people to buy the absolute highest tier gear available, and circumvent whatever enchantment type system the game has just by throwing money at the problem. The end result is almost the same as if you put the infinity+ gear in the cash shop. They are near invulnerable, and they can 1 or 2 shot you. These players can take on 3 or more people without breaking a sweat so good luck getting your guild mates to help you when you get ganked, because they will get rekt too. You can see how this can be a problem with any game that has pvp, especially open world pvp as a main feature. You see this happen over, and over again, people eventually just give up even wanting to play MMOs. The argument these people who aggressively use Pay 2 Advance say is well you can get the same gear and enchants as us with time. How many people are willing to stay fodder food for those people for months at the earliest (most people will never reach their level as new tiers will come out, and they will just pay their way to the best gear possible again leaving you who were already struggling further in the dust.) People just eventually say screw it, and quit the game. The pay to advancers wonder why the game dying/dead, then head to the next game cycle repeats ad infinitum.